Day 143: The Big Rat

Since I got to New York I have been spotting this big blow-up rat standing on the curb. It moves from place to place and clearly is bidding for attention – but whose? Sanitation workers? The Goth people? Clubhoppers who take the word “underground” a little too literally?

This morning the rat appeared right across from my office on 14th Street. I had to ask. I jaywalked and approached the silver-haired man who was in charge of a small crew of Puerto Ricans attending to our snaggle-toothed friend.

Mystery solved. The rat was parked in front of the scaffolding of a worksite. A few feet away, union guys with signs were getting ready to picket. Which is interesting and all, but not as interesting to me as the rat or the other inflatable animals that appear around town. You can see some of them here.